By unanimous vote, AFT New Jersey’s statewide Delegate Assembly

endorses Brigid Callahan Harrison for 2nd District congressional race

NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey – At its meeting here on Jan. 22, AFT New Jersey’s Delegate Assembly voted overwhelmingly to endorse Montclair State University professor Brigid Callahan Harrison for Congress. The vote was unanimous with two delegates abstaining. AFT NJ is the largest higher education union in the state, and its affiliated 19 union locals representing PreK-12 teachers and school staff across New Jersey. The Delegate Assembly, the highest decision-making body in AFT NJ, is comprised of representatives from AFT locals statewide.

Harrison is a professor, political analyst, mother, and longtime 2^nd Congressional District resident. Since 1994, she has taught Political Science and Law at Montclair State. She is the author of the McGraw-Hill textbook American Democracy Now. If elected, Harrison would be the first woman ever to represent South Jersey in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“It is not often we have the opportunity to support someone who not only talks the talk, but walks the walk,” said Donna M. Chiera, AFTNJ President. “Brigid is a true educator who has dedicated her professional and personal life to lifting the voice of students and community members through civic engagement. Brigid stands where our members stand on key issues such as lifting the terrible burden of student loan debt, fighting for affordable health care, and investing in our schools and our infrastructure.”

“Brigid understands the realities of higher education and how those realities affect our students and our economy,” said Rich Wolfson, President of AFT Local 1904 at Montclair State, where Harrison has been a full union member for more than 25 years. “There is no other person running in the 2nd Congressional who will support on the federal level the policies we believe in, including human rights, workers’ rights, higher education quality and access, and democratic freedoms.”

Council of NJ State Colleges President Tim Haresign said, “Brigid is a long-time activist member of the College Council. She has spent years advocating for working people, and now our members are excited about working to put her in a position to help working people at the national level.”

Chiera added, “I am proud to stand up for and stand with Brigid as she begins this journey.”

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AFT New Jersey represents 30,000 education workers throughout the state. Learn more at www.aftnj.org